So, what do you DO with 25 lbs of rice? Cook it 🙂
Well my family loves plain rice as a side dish-the kids can eat gobs of it either with a little soy sauce or else with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. It is a great meal extender especially if you have hungry men or teens in the house-they can fill up on more rice instead of the more expensive meat.
There are other side dishes like Spanish rice and rice pilaf. You can even make your own rice-a-roni or a whole bunch of rice mixes to have on hand for last minute sides.
Rice can be used as a filler in meatloaf or meatballs (they are commonly called porcupine meatballs when made this way) instead of breadcrumbs or oatmeal.
You can put lots of yummy things on top of rice. It is easy to make chicken and gravy, or hamburger gravy. (you can even cheat and just mix either in with a can of “cream of” soup, or use those little packets and make up chicken or brown gravy) You can put homemade chili, sloppy joes or even spaghetti sauce and cheese! Any stirfry or curry also tastes wonderful over rice. And don’t forget the ever popular redbeans and rice!
Homemade fried rice is a quick, easy, one pot meal (once you have the rice cooked) that can use up any bits and pieces of meat and veggies you have in the house. Please note that sesame oil is not necessary (although it is tasty) and I just use a plain old frying pan on the stove instead of a wok. I also just toss in some soy sauce or teriyaki and sometimes a bit of wine and white pepper because I think it tastes nice.
There are plenty dishes that have rice in them as part of the recipe: Chicken and Rice, Stuffed Peppers, Cabbage Rolls (or for lazy folks like me Cabbage Roll Casserole) rice stuffing for a chicken or turkey, even sushi!
You can make Hot Rice Cereal for breakfast instead of oatmeal or cream o whatever.
Don’t forget Rice Pudding for dessert. There is a great crockpot recipe posted on this thread at Frugal Living @ About.com.
Then there are non edible uses. If you’ve got youngsters you can do colored rice art. You can make a rice bag to use as a hotpad, I’ve even heard you can use rice to dust your fake flowers (put the flowers in a bag with the rice and shake gently).
Now don’t you feel the need to go out and grab a 25lb bag of rice yourself??
Sesame oil is so expensive, but boy, it sure tastes and smells good! I found a blend of sesame oil and soybean oil that is very good, and much more reasonable. Or, if you splurge on the sesame oil, you only need a tiny bit for that aroma and flavor. You can mix it with your other cooking oil. (I like canola–higher smoke point and better for you.)
As a matter of fact, I’m making fried rice tonight with ginger chicken and stir-fry vegetables.